Paypal giving a pretty good rate!

[jmjj215]

I just noticed today that my paypal account is giving me 3.76%. Not too shabby eh? How many other people keep any money w/ paypal?

[CRFSaver]

Jesse,

Do you have to have a business relationship with them to deposit cash?

[DivaJen]

Most of DivaTribe's cash flow goes through PayPal, so there's always something there. Wish it were more - the balance, that is.

[jmjj215]

Originally Posted by CRFSaver

Jesse,

Do you have to have a business relationship with them to deposit cash?

I don't believe so CRF. And even if you did need a "business" account, if you never make any sales there are no charges to your account (they charge me per transaction).

So you could set up an account and simply withdraw money from your checking into your paypal account. When you want it out you'd simply transfer it out - no fees incurred whatsoever.

Again, you might be able to convert a personal account to a money market though (which is what gets you this rate) - I haven't checked to be sure.

[weiwentg]

if you sell stuff at all on ebay, and you set up a business account, you can apply for their 1% cash back debit card, which is more or less the only reason I keep anything at all in my paypal account.

there was one incident where some unknown party withdrew $1000 from my paypal account; I didn't have the balance, so it came out of my linked checking. I saw the fraudulent transaction while it was in progress, and called my bank to stop it, but the person at customer services I talked to was incompetent and it went through, and I bounced a few checks. paypal reimbursed me fairly quickly. this has, I believe, happened to quite a few people. however, I also believe they recently improved their security measures.

[jmjj215]

Did you ever find out how someone somehow withdrew a grand from your account? Wow.

[weiwentg]

it looks like they hacked in and paid themselves, but I've never fallen for any phishing scams that I know of. and it's been the only time this has happened.

[jmjj215]

Scary nonetheless. Glad you got it sorted out though!

[jmjj215]

Just wanted to give everyone a heads up that a PayPal money market account (business account converted to mm) is now giving an ED-like 4.0%

Cha-ching (in a small way).

[TBH]

A cautionary note about Paypal....

See "Why I Don' t Trust Paypal" from MyMoneyBlog.

[jmjj215]

I talked with one of the original 12 employees of Paypal (he's no longer with them, but man is he loaded) and he says that type of stuff happened early on because they were so worried about fraud (it was rampant, being new and everything). He says they freeze the money from the sale in question, not your entire account now.

They've improved the system much since then. I've never had a single problem with them. But again, don't put all your eggs in one basket.

[BillsGirl]

Originally Posted by jmjj215

I talked with one of the original 12 employees of Paypal (he's no longer with them, but man is he loaded) and he says that type of stuff happened early on because they were so worried about fraud (it was rampant, being new and everything). He says they freeze the money from the sale in question, not your entire account now.

They've improved the system much since then. I've never had a single problem with them. But again, don't put all your eggs in one basket.

I was just begining to freak out, thanks for the comforting words.. I JUST opened my paypal account and only use it for surveys to pay me and donations from my website..... I was starting to think ti was a mistake..... how about linking it to your bank account, has that gotten any safer too???
right now the percentage is 4.13%

[weiwentg]

Originally Posted by BillsGirl

I was just begining to freak out, thanks for the comforting words.. I JUST opened my paypal account and only use it for surveys to pay me and donations from my website..... I was starting to think ti was a mistake..... how about linking it to your bank account, has that gotten any safer too???
right now the percentage is 4.13%

so far, I haven't had any other problems with them, or heard of anyone else having problems. they did get acquired by ebay, remember, so they certainly have the funding to increase security.

[jmjj215]

I run many transactions through Paypal, on a daily basis, and I find them quite pleasant to deal with (I've never had to "deal" with them at all). The only draw back is the time it takes to transfer funds from them to my bank account - although ING/ED aren't any faster.

[jmjj215]

Funny, it says here I'm getting 4.05% Where's my other .08% man?!

[jpsmoney]

PayPal freezing accounts is NOT a thing of the past. My experience (noted above) was less than two years ago. Check out this FW thread about one going on RIGHT now.

PayPal is not a bank. PayPal is not FDIC insured. I still use it too, but NOT AS A BANK. Never keep more funds than you're willing to lose access to for weeks, if not forever, in PayPal.

Paypal account suspending Thread

[BillsGirl]

Originally Posted by jmjj215

Funny, it says here I'm getting 4.05% Where's my other .08% man?!

mine dropped to 4.05%

[moneymaker]

Currently earning 4.19%

[Bluezy]

I keep my PayPal open to partake of an occasional EBay indulgence, but leave my funds in my FDIC insured accounts that pay higher rates. It's not worth the chance of losing our savings.

[sweeps]

Agreed. I would avoid Paypal's money market since it is not FDIC-insured, and because of the problems some people have reported with fraud and inability to access their money.

I've also avoided GMAC's money market. It's slightly higher than HSBC and is FDIC-insured, but its parent company (GM) is going through some major problems. I don't know how long they can maintain their high rate of interest.